"Act so there is no use in a center"
Grossman, Benjamin, Gelman, Plath, Stein, Strand
Allen Grossman:
Walter Benjamin:
Juan Gelman:
Sylvia Plath, June 11, 1958:
Gertrude Stein:
Mark Strand:
I mean, you have to be willing to read poetry; you have to be willing to meet it halfway—because it won’t go any further than that if it’s any good. A poem has its dignity, after all. I mean, a poem shouldn’t beg you to read it; it’s pathetic, if that’s the case. Some poets fear that they won’t be heard unless they flatter the reader, go ninety percent of the way, do it all for the reader. But that’s pathetic.
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